Live a life others dream of, simply by living your dreams.

The top photo is the very last picture I took while pregnant. My mom texted me asking if I had already had my baby without telling her and I sent that photo to her with a reply “Yes, mom. We totally had the baby in secret. Lol.” Then she joked about my old lady house shoes. The other photos are right after Petra was placed on my chest for skin-to-skin and then bundled off to the nursery. I know this sounds really vain, but I’m so glad I groomed–everywhere–and took a shower the day before Petra arrived. I would not have thought to do that while counting contractions and debating when we should go to the hospital.

When I last left off, I just got to my delivery room and met the nurse who would be taking care of me. I felt confident that things would go as I imagined them, but I wasn’t sure. I’m not an over-sharer, but I wish I would have known more about what actually takes place during delivery. That’s why I’m willing to share these things with those of you visiting this post. I will warn you, some of the content below will be pretty graphic, so if you’re squeamish, just stop here. I see you’re still reading, so let’s get on with it, shall we? Continue reading →

(Above is the very last weekly bump photo I took while pregnant, and it was also the very day I went into early labor.)

Our daughter Petra is six months old, so I thought this would be a good–and very late!–time to go over our birth story. Oh yeah, her name is Petra. I just remembered I hadn’t shared it with the public on this blog yet. Was the wait worth it? She’s named after my husband’s grandmother on his mother’s side. When we first told his mom, she had a huge smile on her face and asked “How am I so lucky that you named your daughter after my mom?” I’ve never met Petra’s namesake and I don’t think my husband has either. There are a lot of names passed down in our families, but never from my mother-in-laws family, so we were happy to change that. Petra is the female version of Peter and it was actually very popular in the 1920’s. How glamorous. Continue reading →

So, I’ve officially set a record for how long I can go between posts. You proud of me? I know this isn’t homework and I’m not getting graded, but I do feel compelled to finish what I’ve started and post as much as I can until our daughter arrives. So here I am posting super late, but posting just the same. Last time we “talked” it was Mother’s Day and my baby showers were just around the corner. Well, I had my showers two weeks ago and they were amazing! Continue reading →

Hello and welcome back to the blog. Hey look, I didn’t wait an entire month to post again. Hahaha. Things have been intense, but not as intense as they were several weeks ago. There’s been a lot of amazing things and wonderful progress happening and I’m so grateful for that. Let’s start off with the baby shower. Basically everything is set and we just need to get the invites out. I really thought the process was going to take a lot longer, but once I asked family and friends to help me plan this wonderful event, everything seemed to fall into place. I don’t believe in coincidence or anything, so I know this is all God working behind the scenes and making sure all the elements are covered.

Wow, has it really been that long since I posted?! Geez, where did I go? Well, we just went on a trip to Seattle to attend our Godson’s baptism, and I meant to post before we left. There was just so much going on. I was kind of hesitant to fly this late into pregnancy, but according to my doctor, I’m not really that late into my pregnancy where it would affect me flying anywhere. I guess we got our Babymoon–a trip couples go on before the baby arrives–and that was really cool because our friends who are the parents of our Godson actually flew us up there on their dime and hosted us in their home. Pretty sweet!

This is random, but I just have to comment on it. No one has really done this to me, but I have noticed so many incidents of other people’s unsolicited advice regarding pregnancy. I’ll see Instagram posts, Facebook pictures, or just status updates from my pregnant friends, and almost every time, someone has to leave a comment like “Are you sure you should be doing/eating/wearing/talking about that?” Or even “You better stop doing that because of this, this and this.” It’s usually an innocent post, and mostly subject matter that a lot of people are ignorant about and have misconceptions regarding. I think it’s inappropriate to expect anyone to have to explain themselves to you or your opinions, but that’s just me. Believe me, most pregnant women do a ton of research and ask their doctors before deciding on anything, so please give them the benefit of the doubt that they’re not trying to harm themselves or their baby. Now on to your regularly scheduled programming… Continue reading →

Welcome back to the blog! It’s been a doozy of a two weeks, so I haven’t written in a while. I actually might just make this a habit of posting every two weeks. One of my friends was posting progress photos of her bump on social media, and the last one she posted, everyone was saying how great she looked and she replied “I don’t feel great, and I’m really tired of posting these. I’m doing it mainly since my family in other states have been asking for them.” I thought I was the only one who felt that way. It’s been nice to have so many friends who are pregnant at the same time and share things that I feel like I’m going through alone. I also have a group text going on with four other women from church who are all pregnant, and the candid comments they make have me cracking up all the time. And the support and prayer is priceless. Continue reading →

I kinda skipped posting last week because…I just didn’t really feel like it. Fortunately, these past two weeks have been pretty similar pregnancy wise, so it wasn’t actually necessary. Also, the app I use on my phone via “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” suddenly changed how they calculate weeks to make it match the timelines doctors use. I’m not too sure what this means, and I’m utterly confused by it. All I know is that the stats I see this week regarding baby girl’s weight and size are a duplicate of last week’s, so I guess they were going a week ahead or something. Let’s just say she’s getting bigger.

This week has been a real doozy. In a good way though. For the most part I’ve been a homebody, and I like to keep it that way when I’m not feeling 100%. Because my birthday, valentine’s day, and a family trip all fell in the same week, I’ve had to be a human being far more than I felt up to. I’m glad to be back home, but I’m so grateful for all of the things I’ve been able to do and people we got to see out-of-town. It didn’t start off that great when we got on the road Tuesday afternoon with a four and a half hour drive ahead of us. Let’s just say that every pregnant woman might indeed need a barf bag or two stashed in the car in case of emergencies. This is the third time this has happened to me, and I’m very glad that my husband suggested it when I first got pregnant last year. Pulling over on the side of the road isn’t always an option when you feel your breakfast, lunch, or dinner rising up. Continue reading →

My husband likes to call these entries my memoirs. I have to admit, it sounds a lot better than blog, but I don’t think I’m that fancy yet. Let’s just go with it though and say here’s to the continuation of my pregnancy memoir. Eighteen weeks and counting, the time sure is flying by. Just when I’ve posted a photo and another entry on this site, it seems like it’s time to do it all over again. I’m glad about it though because that means baby will be here before we know it and I’m definitely looking forward to that day! Continue reading →